Thursday, October 25, 2012

TONIGHT: Racecraft at the Brooklyn Museum

Tonight, Professor Barbara J. Fields of Columbia's Department of History (where ILFA is a grad student) joins her sister, Duke University sociologist Karen E. Fields, to discuss their new book, Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life at the Brooklyn Museum at 7pm. A description of the book, released by Verso, is below, and more information about the event can be found here.

From Verso:

Most people assume that racism grows from a
perception of human difference: the fact of race gives rise to the
practice of racism. Sociologist Karen E. Fields and historian Barbara J.
Fields argue otherwise: the practice of racism produces the illusion of
race, through what they call “racecraft.” And this phenomenon is
intimately entwined with other forms of inequality in American life. So
pervasive are the devices of racecraft in American history, economic
doctrine, politics, and everyday thinking that the presence of racecraft
itself goes unnoticed.

That the promised post-racial age has not
dawned, the authors argue, reflects the failure of Americans to develop a
legitimate language for thinking about and discussing inequality. That
failure should worry everyone who cares about democratic institutions.

1 comment:

thanks Nick - wouldn't have gone if you hadn't posted. it was interesting. and it's always affirming to hear an intelligent, thoughtful conversation about race and racism which starts from the baseline that they are manifest in our society.